India fail the Lyon test on vicious track as offie grabs 8 to leave Aussies needing only 76 to win; Pujara wages lone furrow in shambolic show
INDORE: Another daily episode of 'Survivor: Holkar Stadium' played out in real time here on Thursday. In what made for some grim watching, first Australian and then Indian batters tried to hang on by the skin of their teeth and eke out a frugal existence against overwhelming odds.
With one exception, they failed, unable to come to terms with a pitch which Matthew Hayden described in the morning as "an absolute desert" with "indiscriminate rough".
Runs, then, were as precious as drops of water to parched lips, and there were moments when the hosts couldn't take the heat as Nathan Lyon (8/64 off 23. 3 overs) wheeled away relentlessly on a surface he'd like to frame and put on his living room wall.
The sorry tale, then, is that the hosts are now caught in their own snare. Having prepared a dry, raging turner with low bounce to fox the Aussies, the joke is now on India as Lyon & Co. are close to the last laugh.
Australia now need only 76 runs to win this Test match on the third morning and if that comes to pass, India's hopes of a series whitewash and an early World Test Championship Final berth will have to wait. They must also take a rain check on that thought of preparing a green top for the next Test in Ahmedabad.
Only the survivalist instincts of Cheteshwar Pujara, a man forged of fire, steely resolve and more adaptability than he gets credit for, walked through the burning coals unscathed, scoring 59 off 142 balls (5x4, 1x6), and but for him India would have caved in much earlier than the 163 they eventually managed after having conceded a lead of 88 runs in the first innings.
India's best partnership was only 35, for the fifth wicket between Pujara and man-in-a-hurry Shreyas Iyer. Though they fared better in their second outing than the 109 in the first, if one takes away Pujara's innings it wasn't by much.
1/10:3rd Test, Day 2: Lyon mauls India as Australia close in on victory
2/10:Lyon wreaks havoc
<p>Australia spin spearhead Nathan Lyon claimed eight for 64 on a turning wicket to put the tourists on the verge of victory inside three days in the third Test against India<br /></p>
3/10:Australia need 76 to win
<p>A winning target of 76 may sound a cakewalk but Australia will have to score those runs on a track where 30 wickets have tumbled on the first two days of the spin-dominated contest.<br /></p>
4/10:A win would seal Australia's WTC final berth
<p>India have retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 2-0 lead in the four-Test series but a victory tomorrow would secure Australia's place in the final of the World Test Championship in June.<br /></p>
5/10:India bowled out for 163
<p>India have been on the back foot in the match since being skittled out for 109 in their first innings and they did marginally better in the second when they were all out for 163 when stumps were drawn. <br /></p>
6/10:Pujara's gritty knock
<p>Only Cheteshwar Pujara (59) put up a brave fight against Australia's three-pronged spin attack led superbly by Lyon. <br /></p>
7/10:'Still, there is a chance'
<p>"It's a difficult pitch to bat on. I hope we'll be able to bowl them out," Pujara told the broadcasters. "I know it's not enough. Seventy five may look like it's not too many, but still, there is a chance." <br /></p>
8/10:Australia lose momentum
<p>The action-packed second day began with Australia resuming on 156-4 and after an hour's lull, it rained wickets at the Holkar Cricket Stadium. <br /></p>
9/10:Aussie collapse
<p>Australia looked in cruise control at 186-4 but once overnight batsmen Cameron Green (21) and Peter Handscomb (19) departed, the wheels then came off their innings. <br /></p>
10/10:Umesh Yadav rattles Australia
<p>The tourists lost their last six wickets for 11 runs to fold for 197 with India seamer Umesh Yadav's reverse-swing skills earning him 3-12. <br /></p>Pujara and Lyon, though, have made this short, swift Test memorable. Pujara aced the test where other failed by bringing his nimble footwork to the party, smothering the spin mostly to the square leg and midwicket regions, scoring 75% of his runs on the on-side and making a conscious effort to play on the front foot.
Australia tried to pack the onside field for periods when he batted but Pujara just found a way to rotate strike. That the biggest six of the match came from his blade tells you what a strange Test match this has been so far.
This was a pitch where you had to scrap to survive and Pujara did just that. Had it not been for a magical one-handed effort from Smith at leg slip to get rid of him, Pujara never looked out of his depth even on this deceitful surface. When on 43, he had a control percentage of 88.
The same can't be said of India's other top-order batsmen. Shubman Gill made a hash of this precious opportunity to impress by dancing down the track to Lyon, who beat him in the flight.
Rohit wasted a review after being caught plumb in front to the same bowler, and Virat Kohli made the cardinal sin on this wicket - going back to play through mid-wicket to Kuhnemann. The ball kept low and found his pads, and Kohli left fuming at his choice of shot. Iyer looked comfortable against spin but the introduction of the pace of Starc was an easy solution for the Aussies, even with a fuller delivery.
That India would be up against it became apparent when Australia managed a sizeable lead for this wicket even after another horrendous collapse. Handscomb and Green, in particular, played an impressive waiting game in the morning, perhaps hoping for the pitch to settle or the moisture to dry out, but the runs dried to a trickle.
The delayed introduction of Ashwin (3/44), who found extra turn and unleashed his full bag of tricks, and Umesh Yadav's fast and furious at-the-stumps approach (3/12), with just a hint of reverse swing, did the trick for India. Australia were all out for 197, their last 6 wickets falling for 11 runs in 34 balls and 29 mins, but the lead was sizeable.
This has been a Test match decided by morning sessions, and Australia cannot be faulted if they are a bit prickly on Day Three even though the target is so small. Some quick runs should settle the nerves, along with the fate of this contest.
